Agitator.



J. V. N; DORE. AGTATo'R.

APPLIOATION FILED 118.25, 1913.

1*,1 09,21 0, Patented Sept. 1,1914.

IVTVESSES: A l

f 7M- 52A@ To all whomz't may concern JOHN V. N. DORCELOF DENVER, COLfKAD sonaron.

Liedern.

specification qf Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1 1914.

Application led February 25,1913? rSerial No. 75',586.

Be it known that I, JOHN V. N. Donn,

a citizen of the United States, residing at` Denver, -in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, .have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Agitators, of-Which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to agitators for use in the treatment of qmetalliferous ores or other products which require filtration or thorough intermixtureand its object resides in the provision of an apparatus of very simple construction, which by its operation in a tank or vat to which it is applied, will readily effect a thorough intermixture of solids and liquid in an aqueous mass contained therein, either for the purpose of maintaining these solid particles in suspension in the liquid or to dissolve the soluble constituents from the finely divided 'material in the course of a process of extrae.

tion.

'While my 'invention may be effectively used Wherever the agitation of a material under treatment is required in any 'of the processes employed for the extraction of the valuable constituents of comminuted ores,

it is particularly adapted to be used in connection with machines of the type 'designed for the separation of the finely divided solids from liquid in which theyare suspended, by filtration, such as,Vv for example, the

rotary vacuum filters which lat present are; extensivelyused for this purpose. In this connection, `my agitator provides a much improved substitute for any one of the many devices which have been used for keeping the solids in suspensionjnthe liquid contained in the vat in which the rotary filter has its movement, and which `have been found deficient in many respects, especially when the solids to be filtered are of a sandy nature or contain a certain amount of sand or other coarse material.

' 0f the most commonly used methodsdesigned to agitate the pulp in a filtering apparatus for the purpose of keeping-its solids in suspension and thus eliminate the formation of obstructions to the movement of the rotary parts by buildingup the material4 of a centrifugalpump which through a re f action distributer'elfects a-.oiroulatory movementoftlie pulp by` withdrawing it from the tankand returning it to the same, arerepresentative. Aside from the fact that all these processes are costly in installation and operation, they all have the common objectionthat they do' not prevent the material from building up outside the yzone in which their action is effective and that for' this reason, the movement of the rotary filterlis sooner .or later interfered with while' it isA diftcult to obtain a uniform deposit on the tlterinur surface.

To eectivey eliminate the above men-- tioned objections, it is necessary that the pulp contained in the filtering tank is evenly agitated along the entire bottom of the same, .an object which is readily attained by the use of the present inventionwhich, briefly consists of inclement which has an oscillatory movement in suitable adjacency to the bottom of the tank to which it is applied and which includes in its construction either a lseries of bars which extend transversely with relation to the direction of its movement and are adapted to agitate' the material contained in the tank and direct' the solids toward the surface of the filtration medium associated therewith, or one or more perforated members which likewise extendtransversely to the plane in- Whiclr-the oscillatory element has its movement and which more particularly adapt it for use as an agitator in tanks other than those employed for filtering purposes.

' A n agitator of this character requires but little power in its operation, is readily installed andinay be maintained in an operative condition at a small expense, it. will effectively maintain solids of the pulp in suspension along 'the entire bottom' ofthe tank and insure a uniform deposit on the filtering surface. When employed in an ordinary agitating tank, it is Well adapted to cause a thorough intermixture of the material in Which it has its movement for the purpose v.of dissolvin the soluble constituents from the finely ivided matter, it may be veffectively used in connection with an air lift, by which the heavier particles which settle out of the material are elevated to the surface to mix again with the slightly thinner pulp, and by its even motion and uniform effect on the pulp, it renders feasible the use of a rotary filter for dewatering concentrates and many other materials which require drying, i

los

c An embodiment of my invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings in the various views of which like parts are similarly designated and in which- Figure l represents a plan view of a vacuum filtering apparatus, with my improved agitator in its operative position, Fig. 2, a section taken along the line'Q-Q Fig. 1, Fig. 3, a transverse section along the line 3-3 Fig. 1, Fig. 4, a plan view of a rotary disk filter to which the agitator is applied, Fig. 5, a transverse section of a filter similar to those shown in Figs. 1 and 4f, showing the method of operating the tator in tanks whose interior surface is not concentric with the arc in which the agitator has its movement, and Fig. 6, a modification of my agitator when used in connection with an ordinary agitatin tank.

Referring first to 4igs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, the numeral 2 designates a tank in which a cylindrical filtering element 3 is rotatably mounted in substantially concentric spaced relation to its arcuate bottom surface., The filterin element is as usual composed of -a filter w ose grooved and sectional peripheral wall is covered with a suitable filtering fabric and interiorly connected wit-h a suction device by means of a conduit 4 applied to th'e hollow axle 5 of the same. 'The filter 3 receives its rotary motion from a conveniently located motor through the medium o f a transmission mechanism,which in the drawings is designated by the numeral 6, and a scraper 7 is provided to remove the v load of accumulated matter from its ltering surface into'a launder 8.

My improved agitator used in connection with the filterin apparatus,-consists of two rocker arms 9 w ich are rotatably mounted upon the shaft 5 of the cylinder 3 between the end surfaces of the latter and the respective end walls of the tank. One of the arms is extended to provide a crank arm 10, which through the medium of a lpitman 12 is operatively connected with a crank arm 13 on a shaft 14l whilzhlfis rotatably supported in bearings 15 and which by means of a pulley 16 and a belt '117, is connected with a motor, shaft or other driving medium.

The two arms 9, whichcare preferably of skeleton form, are connected at their lower ends by means of a series of bars 18 which extending parallel to the axis of the filtercylinder, are arranged in an are concentric with the interior bottom surface of the tank. The bars are made angular in cross section and disposed with their vertexes u permost so that their sides converge inwar ly from the ends of the arms to direct the material maintained in suspension by the oscillating movement of the agitator, toward the filtering surface of the filter 3.

' When the tank in which the filtering elcment has its movement is interiorly of other than arcuate form, as in the construction shown in' Fig. 5, or in case itsinterior surface is not concentric with the axis about which the a itator has its oscillating motion, the lower e ges of the bars which are preferably arranged in an arc concentric with said axis, will cause the matter settling out of the pulp onto the bottom of the tank to assume an arcuate form, and thus provide a surface which for all purposes becomes the interior surface of the tankxalong which the bars move to maintain the other solids conp tained in the material under treatment continually in suspension until they are deposited on the surface of the rota-tir'lg` cylinder.

ln the construction shown in rig. 5, the axis about which the agitator has its oscillatory movement is disposedv above the axis of rotation of the cylindrical filter for the purpose of preventing the fluid or solids of the material under treatment from reaching the bearings of the agitator, in case the axis of the filtering member is disposed below or adjacent to the level of the fiuid in the tank.

In themodiiicatio-n shown in Fig. 6, the oscillating agitator is mounted in a semicircular tank 19, and its arms are connected by a perforated plate 20 which extends in spaced relation to the end and bottom surfaces of the tank and which during'the oscillating movement of the device, will cause the fluid in front of it to rise to a higher level and force the solid particles of the ulp around its edges and through itsV per orations with a vigorous scouring motion.

In the form shown in Fig. 4, the agitator is applied to a filtering apparatus in which the rotary element consists of a disk 21 into which .the value -carrying liquid is admitted through filtering mediums applied to its vertical sides, by shortening the length of the agitating members 18, and l desire it understood that by similar or other variations in the construction or arrangement of the part-s of which the agitating device is composed, it may be successfully applied to filtering apparatus er agitating tanks other than 'those illustrated in the drawings, without departing from the spirit of the inventerior surface thereof, of an element' having ,inovcmentfinsaid space in an are substantially concentric with said surface.

5. The combination with a' .tank and an clement having a rotary movement in spaced.-

relation to an interior surface thereof, offaseries of bars extending longitudinally in4 the saidspace, and means `for imparting atransversereciprocating movement to seid series.

6. The combination with a tank and anv element having a rotary movement in spaced relation to an'nterior surface thereof, of a bar of angular section havingA a transverse reciprocating movement in said space, its sides converging toward said element. 7. The combination with a tank and a substantially cylindrical element .having a i space with its sides converging toward said element, and means for imparting a trans- 'verse movement tosa'id bar.

8. The vcoi'nloination with a tank and a substantially cylindrical element having a rotary movement in spaced relation to an insaid space\ with their sides converging toward said element, and means for imparting a transverse movement to said series.

9. The combination with a tank and an l element having a rotary movement in spaced relation to an interior surface thereof, of a.

pair of arms mounted to oscillate about a common axis, means for imparting an oseillating movement to said arms, and an agitating appliance in said space connecting the ends ofsaid arms.

10. The combination 4with a tank and an element having'a rotary movement in spaced relation to an lnterior surface thereof, o'f a pair of arms mounted to oscilla/ce abouta common axis, means for imparting an oscillating movement to said arms, and bars in said space, connecting the ends of said arms.

1l. ,The combination with stank and an element having a movement in spaced 'relation to an interior surface thereof, of a bar' of angular section having a transverse movement in said space, the sides of said bar conver 'ng tovvard said element.

12.' he combination with atank and an 'element having a movement in spaced rela! tion to an interior surface thereof, of an agitating element having a reciprocating movement -in said space.

In testimony whereof I have aixed my signatureI in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN V. N. BORR. Witnesses:

Aonmnn BAnTLE'rr, G. J. RoLLANnn'r. 

